History Books Alive
by AzoNintendo
Summary: E. Gadd creates a time machine, and plans to send Mario back in time 2 hours to test it. But then things go wrong... And they go wrong again in a different time period... No intense mushiness in this one! WOW!
1. Chapter 1

**Yeah, it's new, but it's good! I love the concept, so I thought, "Why not?" Enjoy.**

"Your highness, Luigi, Mario, I am here to tell you that you are three very lucky people indeed." Professor E. Gadd paced back in forht of what they guessed was a huge machine under a curtain. "Why, might you ask? Well, I have created something that has never been possible in all of science history, a feat never before attempted or even thought possible."

"Well, what is it?" Luigi asked.

"I give you..." Gadd pulled off the curtain. "The worlds' first Time Machine!"

It was a huge dome, sleek and shiny, made of steel. Many wires stuck out of the top, which also had a large, see-through hose.

"Well?"

They didn't need to say anything. Their faces showed their emotions well enough.

"I tested it on a Goomba this morning," Gadd said proudly. "Sent it back three minutes. It was _great!_"

He looked at it for a moment. "I _would_ like to try a longer period of time. How about... Mario, want to go back two hours?"

"Me?" Mario asked, surprised. "Sure, okay."

"OK, well, if you'll just step into the dome, I'll demonstrate to your friends how it works."

Mario stepped into the dome, where Gadd strapped him to a chair. "OK, first, I type into this keypad-" He lifted up a small keyboard with a screen. "-how much time I want to send the person inside back. So, I'll set it to 120 minutes..." He typed into the keypad. "...Oh, before I start it, Mario, you might feel minor pain... And press 'enter.'"

The wires on top spewed sparks, and the transparent tube seemed to take heat from it. The whole mechanism flashed, threatening to explode, but all at once, it stopped. The machine was where it stood, but Mario was gone.

"Hm. That's strange," E. Gadd muttered. "Only two hours wouldn't have it overload _that _much. And by my calculations, he should be back by now."

"What are you saying? Is he okay?" Peach asked with concern.

"Unless..." Gadd picked up the keyboard. "Yep. I knew it. This is bad."

"What is it?" Luigi asked.

"I didn't send him back 120 minutes."

"_And?!_"

"I sent him back 120 _years._"

They gaped.

"Hey, at least I know my invention works," he said sheepishly.

--

Minor pain. Try _extreme pain._

Mario got up slowly, aching all over. He looked around.

It was basically burning, brown wasteland all around him. A green patch here and there, and a forest on the horizon.

_Wait a second,_ Mario thought. _It was a time machine. Not a time and SPACE machine! Where the hell am I?_

Al he knew was, this did _not_ look like E. Gadd's place 2 hours ago.

**How was that? Should I continue it? Also, credit to _Back to the Future_ for giving me ideas. It's the best movie ever made, so if you haven't seen it yet, go see it, now! And the two sequals... Do it.**

**AzoNintendo...?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the nice review! I'm updating today because I'm home sick from school... It sucks, but it's good at the same time. :D  
**

**Y'know, before deciding on the time travel thing, I had this idea where Mario and Daisy switched bodies because of a mind reading machine Gadd built, but then I decided it was too weird, and that the greatest invention on Earth would be a time machine. So here I am. :)**

**Enjoy! And thanks again, _Back to the Future. _And sorry in advance for any historical information I'll get wrong. **

**By the way, I don't know what year all the Mario games take place in, and I don't know if the Mushroom world uses years anyhow, so I'll just assume it's 2000. I like that year... I dunno why. It's a nice rounded number.**

**If you couldn't tell, the towns people thing is based on _Belle. _I played her in a play... It was fun... I was the only one who memorized the lines. **

**Now would be a good time to hum the _Back to the Future _theme song. Ready... Go!**

Mario stood up and looked around. The brown wasteland was the only thing that stared back. He realized he'd better get to civilization.

He turned around, noticing a small shack in the distance. He ran, not caring who he found.

--

Arriving at the house, he knocked twice. An old woman answered the door. "Yes?"

_Wow, _Mario thought. _She looks a lot like E. Gadd._

"Um, hi, I was just wondering if you could give me directions to Toad Town?"

"Toad Town? Never heard of it," she responded.

"What? It's the capital city of the Mushroom Kingdom," he explained. Maybe she just wasn't familiar with it.

"Mushroom _Town, _you mean?" she responded, looking thoroughly confused. "I could tell you how to get to Mushroom Town."

"Uh, OK, that'd be nice," he replied.

"Just go West into Frightful Forest, then keep left," she instructed. "Can't miss the castle. Brand new."

"OK, thanks," he said, running to the direction of the forest.

_What the hell is going on?! _He thought frantically.

--

Arriving at the town, everything was different.

All the grounds were cobblestone, slightly aged. People were riding out of town in Yoshi-drawn carriages. The Mushroom houses had straw roofs. People were trading cheep-cheeps for different foods. And then there was the castle.

It was Peach's castle, of course, but it was brand new, it looked like it had been made that day. The white stone glimmered in the sunlight. A flag, printed with a mushroom with a singe, small spot, fluttered above the city.

"Woah," Mario muttered.

"'Scuse me, sir," a passerby said, knocking into him.

"Comin' through!" a lady yelled, crashing by with a huge cart full of cheep-cheeps. The smell stayed.

"Move, please."

"Out of my way."

"Please let me through!"

"Hurry!"

"5 fish..."

"3 dozen eggs..."

"2 quarts..."

"5 coins?!"

"...Newspaper?"

"Yoshi! Come back!"

"This bread..."

"Those fish..."

"It's stale!"

"They smell!"

"Take what you get!"

"I will not stand for this!"

"Hello!"

"Good bye."

"Wait up!"

Mario moved through the bustling town. This was most definitely NOT two hours ago.

He made his way to a newspaper stand. "Uh, excuse me, sir, how much does this paper cost?" he asked.

"3 coins," he replied. "You look a little lost. Want directions to anywhere?"

"Uh, no thanks. Here." He gave the salesman 3 coins. He looked at the front page in utter horror. Printed in black, the date was as follows:

_October 25, 1880_

"This is a dream," Mario muttered to himself. "Just a... very realistic, terrifying dream... Any second you'll wake up in the year 2000."

"2000?" a passerby asked. "It's 1880, lad. You're mistaken." He shuffled off.

_That's twice... _Mario thought to himself. _Might be true... Oh God, I hope not..._

A headline caught his eye. _Princess Mushkey Declares New Law!_

The article read as follows:

_Princess Annabella Mushkey, ruler of the small Mushroom Kingdom, has declared that any packages entering or exiting the kingdom must hereby and henceforth be checked for weapons. We are a strictly non-violent community. _

Mario remembered someone telling him about this. The non-violence law had been abolished when Dark Land made the first attack. War had been declared. The Mushroom Kingdom had won, though they had lost many people, including Princess Annabella. It was the war of 1881, he recalled.

_Wait a second, 1881?!_

That was only a few months from now!

"_Look out!_"

He didn't have much time to worry about it, as a Yoshi-drawn buggy was crashing into him at full force.

--

"Are you okay, sir?"

Mario opened his eyes and sat up. A face stared back at him. It was a woman, about his age, who had short brown hair and dark brown eyes and lots of freckles. She was wearing a pale pink and red dress with a blue knit shawl, and wore a look of concern. She looked slightly familiar.

"I'm fine, thank you," he replied.

"Who are you? I haven't seen you around the village," she mused.

"Uh, my name's Mario," he replied.

"What's your first name?"

"Uh, well... Same thing," he said.

She giggled. "Unusual." She bowed. "Princess Annabella Mushkey."

Ah. Now he knew why she looked so familiar, she was from Mushroom Kingdom history books.

Just then, he got a very creepy thought. This person was _dead._

"Hi," he said stupidly.

"Oh, sorry about crashing into you. My Yoshi got spooked by a ParaGoomba, and I lost control of the buggy," she apologized. "Y'know what? Let me make it up to you. Want to come to the castle for dinner?"

"That's OK, I don't have to," he said quickly, not wanting to tamper with history.

"No, it's fine, come on," she insisted, grabbing his arm and walking toward Mushroom Castle.

--

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Luigi asked, walking around and inspecting the time machine, as if something he could do to it would help.

"Alas, I have no clue," Gadd murmured, leaning against the machine and closing his eyes, thinking deeply. "I do have some information, though."

"Well, tell us!" Peach exclaimed. "Anything would help!"

"By my calculations, he should be at October 25, 1880," Gadd started. "1880 is a historical year, the year the last Mushkey was in power. Princess Annabella. As we know, she was killed in the war of 1881. If Mario were to somehow be enlisted in the Mushroom Town army, he could save Annabella from that terrible fate, and scare the then weak Koopa army off. If that were to happen, she could continue the Mushkey royal chain. You see, after the last Mushkey was killed, the Toadstools were brought into power. If Annabella were to survive, and the New York transfer pipe on Shooting Star Summit never crushed by the Koopas, Mario and Luigi would be in New York, I would never have to come here from Japan, and Peach would cease to exist."

There was a moment of silence as they soaked this in. Finally, Peach spoke. "So... we could just... disappear... at any second?"

"Yes."

"Well, any ideas?" Luigi inquired.

"Just one," he admitted. "But it's completely ludicrus and will take months."

"Well? Anything would help," Peach pleaded.

**How was it? It took me forever to come up with that formula for the chain reaction**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well... Not much to say, except read and review! And thanks, WIIWRITE. You're excused from my rant.  
**

**Oh, and Annabella is my character. Hands off, stealers! Everyone else belongs to Nintendo, obviously. **

Mario sat at the table, keeping his head down, dumbstruck that he was eating dinner with a dead person.

"So, Mr. Mario, where are you from?" Annabella asked.

"Uhm- Well-" he stuttered, wondering how he was going to pull this off. He decided he'd just tell the truth and see where it went from there "I'm from New York."

"Hm, never heard of that place," she mused. "Is it nice there?"

"Depends your point of view on things, I guess," Mario explained. "I thought it was nice living there."

"You used past tense," she noticed. "Are you there anymore?"

"No," he replied. "I'm just roaming around now."

"Ay, seems- uhm-" She stuttered. "I apologize. English isn't my first language."

"What do you speak?" he asked.

"Mushlish," she replied. "It's a pretty popular language around the east."

"Really?" By 2000, he recalled, Mushlish was a dead language.

"Yeah," she replied, twisting her spoon in the thin, watery soup. "It's kind of difficult. This is the north part, and most of the northern citizens speak English. I'll be making a speech, and all of a sudden I'll break into Mushlish. It's quite embarrassing."

"I'm sure they understand," he responded.

She smiled. "You're quite kind."

"Thanks," he said.

She just smiled. "Want to see something of awe?"

"Uhm, sure." Barely before the statement had left his mouth, she had grabbed his hand and was leading him up a flight of stairs.

--

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah, it is."

The landscape was perfect. From atop the tower, they could see everything. Shooting Star Summit, the gray, stone Koopa Kastle in the distance, the grassy hills, the ants of townspeople below as they scattered and chatted.

"Do you get views like this in New York?" she asked, her eyes focused on the plains.

"No way," he answered. "They're interrupted by lights."

She gaped. "They light fires everywhere?"

"What? No, it's just-" He realized electricity didn't exist here yet. "No, I mean, yes, not everywhere."

"Oh." She smiled again. "You're very interesting."

"Hey, what do you think of the Koopas?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"They're racist against my people," she said. "But we don't fight. We're non-violent."

"Oh." It pained him to know the person he was talking to would meet an untimely demise in just a few months. "Just... brace yourselves. Tell everyone to be careful. Don't trust any Koopas."

"Why?"

"I just... have a feeling."

"Oh. Okay." She sighed. "It's weird. I was having the same feeling. Like... we're not safe. Nobody's safe right now. And now, since I met you, I feel safer."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She smiled that smile again. She touched his hand, blushing slightly. Mario panicked.

He took his hand away. "Uhm, gotta go, I'm late for... Uh... Something!" He ran down the flight of stars, leaving Annabella on the tower.

**This is the part where I copy _Back to the Future..._ Hope it works.**

"We're going to _what?!_"

"Build the time machine again. Out of a car," he explained. "You see, this way, we can go back, and the machine can, too. Then, we'll be able to get back. But it'll take time to build."

"We don't _have _time!" Peach yelled. "Mario could be tampering with the course of time right now, and for all we know, he already has!"

"True," Gadd sighed. "If only we could work faster... Perhaps I'll build a quick _robot..._"

"Let's just start working _now!_" Luigi shouted.

**How was that? Gosh, I always say that. Well... I mean it. So I might as well repeat it until I get more reviews. **

**Thanks again for all the PERSON who review.**

**AzoNintend, as I said, the original complete bastard. **


	4. Chapter 4

**You... Didn't get the reference? Go see _Back to the Future, _right now! Go ahead, I'll wait...**

**Ah, you're back. So, you know about the car now? Good! Let's begin!**

"This is not happening... This is not happening..." Mario muttered to himself as he ran to the outskirts of Mushroom Town. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, looking back at the Mushroom Castle fading on the horizon. "Okay, this _might_ be happening."

"Oh, it's happening, alright."

He spun around. A cloaked figure stood, looking menacing. "Hello."

"Uhm... Hello..."

"You're probably wondering who the heck I am, right?" He nodded. "I thought so. Well, I don't exactly have a given name, but most people call me Father Time. I monitor and control the course of time. You, my friend, are in a heap of trouble." He paused, summoning what looked like a crystal ball. E. Gadd appeared in the crystal. "Do you know this man?" He nodded again. "Yes, Professor Alvin Gadd. He interrupted the course of time by creating _this _machine." The time machine appeared in the ball. "Now, I _could _return you to the year 2000, and this whole mess would be gone, but that's no fun, is it?"

"It might be," Mario suggested.

"Heh, no," he replied, slightly amused. _Slightly. _"So, I think it might be fair to warn you. Don't mess with the time line. Don't change anything." He got a puzzled expression. "Seems like you might've changed something already. Look at your hand."

Mario did so. He could see right through it to the ground! "AUGH! What's going on?!"

"Well, first, you might want to go back to the future sight of Gadd's home, maybe tell Annabella to release security, that way she will be killed."

"Why would I let her die?"

"Well, either let her die, or never see Peach or, for that matter, _anyone, _ever again. The choice should be simple." With a sweep of his cloak, he disappeared, leaving Mario dumbstruck and wondering.

He decided what to do, and turned and ran back to the Mushroom Town.

--

"So, how do we go about doing this?" Peach asked.

"First, we have to extract the Time residue from the existing machine. Then, we must carefully, _carefully, _remove the wires and attach them to the car. Then comes the hard part." Gadd made a small note on a piece of paper. "We have to find a substance strong enough to resist the pressure of time travel. Steel won't do... Iron would melt..."

"How about something made from both?" Luigi suggested.

Gadd snapped his fingers. "That might work! Steel's ability to resist fire and Iron's to stay standing just might dilute the pressure!"

"R-really?" Luigi stuttered. "OK, then."

"But how would we get the two to mix together?" Peach asked.

"Hm... Perhaps I could invent some sort of device that fuses things together... Of course, that would take months, maybe years-"

"E. GADD!"

"Oh! Sorry."

**Hm. I... KIND OF like it. What do you think?**

**Hey, I updated. That's what counts. Why don't YOU review?**

**AzoNintendo**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yeah... I wrote Alvin instead of Elvin... Whoops... I was thinking about a certain group of chipmunks.**

**This is intolerable. I appreciate the reviews, but you really must see _Back to the Future, _Fanfic or no Fanfic. OK? OK. G'bye.**

"Mr. Mario! You're back!" Annabella was there to greet him when he got back to the town. "Well, I've been thinking, and I think you're right. So I've increased security. We'll be safe from any sudden attack." She gasped. "Mario, your hand!"

He hid his hand behind his back. "What?"

"..." She furrowed her brow. "Never mind. You look sort of... Um... guilty. What's the matter?"

"Nothing," he replied. "But I don't think there's any reason to- to increase security. Y-you're town is pretty safe, I think." He nearly choked on his words, having the knowledge he was trying to open up the soon-to-be kingdom for attack. That the living, breathing people around him would soon be nothing more than memories.

She stared. "Why not? I mean, like you said, the Koopas are unpredictable. I think it'd be better if I did."

"Well, maybe-" Mario was cut off mid sentence by a woman with a large sack across her back crashing into him slightly, then trotting away. "Sorry," she said faintly.

"Oh, Strawberry Toadstool, don't mind her," Annabella informed.

"Toadstool?!" Mario asked, surprised slightly, looking back at the woman.

"Yeah," she replied. "She and her family are rather... Odd. No other word to describe them. They've always got their heads stuck up on some cloud, never paying any attention to their surroundings. Rather odd, indeed."

Mario didn't answer.

--

Hold on while I get the next part ready for you...

--

Being stuck in this time for more than a month had been more than frightening. The war could happen at any time. And for another thing, Annabella wouldn't leave him alone.

"Princess! _Princess!!_" a Toad ran up to them in town square one afternoon.

"What is it, Theodore?" she asked.

"The Dark Kingdom! It's-!" The first attack on the castle finished his sentence for him.

"We need soldiers! And _lots!_" She shouted over the noise.

"You!" he turned to Mario. "Are you a competant fighter?"

"I guess so," he replied, taken off guard.

"Good! Welcome to the army!" He shook his hand. "Let's go-"

Another attack on a building drowned out any possible noise.

"Hurry!" They, along with many other townsepeople following suit, ran in the direction of Dark Land.

--

"Sure is scary," A man started a convorsation with him on the long walk. "And we're unarmed."

"Yeah, it's really frightening," he agreed. The man looked very familiar, so familiar that Mario already had a clue who he was. "Is your last name Toadstool?"

"Yeah, it is," he replied, slightly surprised. "Howdja know?"

"Just a guess," he muttered back.

"So, have you got a special someone back at the Mushroom Town you're dying for out here?"

"Yeah, sort of," he replied. "Do you?"

"Yeah, but it's kind of emberrassing," he admitted. "But you seem pretty trustworthy, so I'll tell you. I'm sort of in love with Princess Annabella."

"Really?" he asked. "That's nice."

"Well, being a lowly peasent in love with royalty isn't exactly fun," he responded. "I can never be with her. Do you know how heart breaking that is?"

"You have no clue..." he murmured under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, continue," he said quickly.

"Don't think I can," he corrected. "It's time to fight."

There it was. Dark Land.

**Cliiiiiiff Hanger, hanging from a cliiiiiiff, and that's why he's called Cliff Hanger!**

**Yeps, I did it. This whole thing is working out just perfectly in my mind... THIS happens because of THIS, which causes THIS to happen, which will... Well, you'll see. **

**I UPDATED. Finally. That's good, right? RIGHT?**

**AzoNintendo**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, I couldn't hold it back any longer. I'm sitting here in my Grandmother's house at 10:40 PM, and I suddenly decided to continue the story. Mhm.**

**I've got a really good idea for this chapter... :D**

"Seeya on the battlefield, I guess," the man said, saluting.

"OK," He saluted back. "Thank you..."

"Papaya," he replied, smiling.

"Everyone!" One person spoke out above the crowd. "On short notice, Mushroom City was able to supply us with hand guns, but that's about it. Take one, and use it wisely. Remember, your lives rest in them." He dragged a wheelbarrow filled with guns through the middle of the people, who all grabbed at them. Mario stared at his like someone who had never seen one before.

"You press the switch at the top, aim, and pull the trigger," someone informed him.

"I know," he replied bluntly.

"OK, strategy," the same voice shouted. "Cover as much area as you can, and kill Koopas. ONLY Koopas."

The castle door burst open, revealing an army of Koopas, outnumbering them by far. They ran into the mass, many people starting to fire the guns. Mario tried to jump on their heads, but they were wearing some sort of helmet.

"What are you doing?!" He recognized Papaya's voice.

"I was- just- Oh, nevermind," he muttered. He aimed the gun, pressing the switch at the top, aiming at a Koopa. He tried to press the trigger, but couldn't. _Weird, _he thought to himself, _I have no trouble bashing Koopas heads in, but I can't fire a gun. Pathetic. Dad should be yelling at me right now._

"Pull the damn trigger!" The voice that had instructed him on how to use the gun. "Who enlisted _you?!_"

"Go worry about your own life!" he shouted back. He pulled the trigger without thinking.

The bullet bounced off the armor the Koopa was wearing, laying smoking on the ground. This wasn't going to work.

"HA!" The troopa advanced, barreling into him and knocking him over. It punched him repeatedly in the face.

"Jeezum, how strong where you?!" he shouted, unheard over the noise of shooting. He fought back, eventually wrestling him away. Bullets whizzed past his head, people shouted curses at the Koopas, and vice versa. Mario ran, not wanting to mess around with the minions, just to find out who was in charge.

"STOP!"

The shots stopped. The shouts stopped. The smoke settled. Everyone's gaze went to the direction of the voice.

What looked like Bowser, except more muscular, blonde hair, and looking possibly more evil, walked into the middle of the battle. Everyone seemed to know he wasn't to be messed with.

"I am King Boxer Koopa, ruler of the Dark Kingdom. I have an important message for you all before you continue the war. We have invaded your kingdom while you're gone. Many of your citizens are already dead. We have kidnapped your ruler. We demand your kingdom, or we will behead her in front of all of you." He waited for a reaction. Mario thought about battling him right there, but his feet where glued to the spot. "OK. Resume." He turned and left.

Suddenly, everything stopped.

Boxer stopped walking, people stopped breathing. Koopas stopped attacking. Life itself froze.

Father time appeared in front of him. "It's your choice. Safe these people, or save your world." He disappeared.

The war resumed. Shots went off an inch from his face, Koopas threatened to tear his head off. He ran through the smoke pushing people out of the way until he found Papaya in a sobbing heap on the ground.

"What are we going to do?!" he shouted.

"I don't know!" Mario yelled back.

**And I'll leave it at that. At 11:30PM. I'm going to bed... In a few minutes...**

**Hope ya like it!**

**AzoNintendo... Duh.**


	7. Chapter 7

**WiiWrite: Yeah, I'd love to do that, but I might run into some copyright issues... So I'll use my characters instead. :D I'd do it if I could.  
**

**Speaking of my characters, Papaya and Boxer belong to my mind. So all of you people... no. I was gonna call Boxer _Baxter_, but Baxter is the name of my dog, and he's so nice and cuddly that I couldn't name an evil villian after him. So Boxer it is. **

"I think I know what to do," Mario said finally. "One thing. Are you ready for death?"

"What?! Why?" Papaya asked.

"Because there's a strong chance that might happen," he informed.

"Well, that depends what the plan is," Papaya replied. "What are we doing?"

"We're going to go back to Mushroom Town, try to help anyone we can, but bullets don't work on them. So we'll have to fight unarmed. Punch, kick, jump on their heads-"

"Jump on their heads?!"

"Yeah. It's less crazy than it sounds, trust me," he reassured. "Anyway. Next we'll go to the castle and use some of the supplies in the limestone cavern in the bottom of the castle-"

"How'd you know about something like that?"

"I... uh... I just know, okay?"

"...Okay."

They ran in the direction of the castle, visible on the horizon.

"Who are you, anyway?"

"You don't need to know anything about me, okay?" Mario snapped.

"Are you even from here?" he asked anyway.

"No. Let's go to-"

"Then how do you know about a weapon supply under the castle?"

"Uh... Uhm... Please don't ask me any more questions. I'm not even supposed to be here!"

"Where are you supposed to be?"

"I told you not to ask me any more questions!" he snapped.

"Tell me and I promise I won't tell anyone. I'm dying to know!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he replied.

"..." Papaya was quiet. "Is time travel actually possible in the future?"

"Augh! What did you just say?!"

"I guessed," Papaya said. "Am I right? What year are you from?"

"..." Mario's speech was temporarily lost. "2000."

"Wow!" Papaya breathed. "What are you doing here?"

"My friend made a time machine, the first ever, but then things went wrong. I _really _just want to get back to my time period, and I don't know how. If I help anyone, my time period will be ruined, but if I let everyone here die, my time period will be okay, but I'd never be able to live with myself. What do I do?!"

Papaya took this in. "I don't know what to tell you," he finally replied. "But I do have to ask. Do I die in this war?"

"Um... I don't think I can tell you that."

"Makes sense. Figure I'll find out soon, eh?" He laughed.

Mario faked a laugh. "Yeah. I just wonder what they're all doing in my year right now."

"_LOOK OUT!!"_

Something huge and metal shot past them, missing them by mere inches. It settled, smoking, about 5 yards away.

"What the hell is that?!" Papaya yelled.

"Shh. Take out your gun. Just in case." They did so, approaching the huge silver thing. It lay still, unmoving. They were close enough to see it was a car.

Suddenly, a man popped out of the door.

"Aaah!" They pointed their guns at him.

"Eaaaaugh! Don't shoot! We're just looking for someone!"

"E. Gadd?!" Mario exclaimed, dropping the gun. "Drop your gun!" Papaya did so.

"Mario! Is that you?" Gadd replied.

Peach and Luigi emerged from the car. "Uhm... E. Gadd? How much fire did you need to melt the steel? I'm not sure if we even went back-" Peach nudged him with her elbow. "What-?! Oh! It worked!"

"These your friends?" Papaya asked.

"Yep," Mario responded.

"We built a _mobile _time machine!" Gadd exclaimed proudly. "It was a hassle to melt the compounds, but fire did the trick. Can you ever forgive me for sending you back this far?"

"No need to apologize," Mario replied. "Nothing extremely terrible happened."

"Oh my," Luigi murmured. "That guy looks an awful lot like you, Peach."

Peach snatched off her crown and put it inside the car, remembering historic events. She approached Papaya. "Hello. Who are you?"

"Papaya Toadstool," he greeted. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm Peach Toadstool," she laughed, shaking his hand.

"I see our family never stopped the fruit tradition," he observed. "So I'm your... Great Great Great Grandfather? Wow. I feel old, now."

"Yeah, wow. Don't do anything horrible with your life, okay? I feel like existing."

"Okay. I promise," he responded.

"OK, let's leave this time and get back to the year 2000!" Gadd said triumphantly."We don't want to disrupt the timeline any more than we already have. Let's leave!"

"Um, do you think I could stay for just a few more minutes? We were just heading-" Mario began, but was cut off by E. Gadd.

"No way. Why would you want to stay? To us, these people aren't even alive!"

Papaya got a terrified look on his face, and coughed.

"No offense," Gadd said quickly. "But why?"

"Well, I kind of want to continue fighting. I don't think it's right to just walk away without doing anything," he explained.

"You gotta teach yourself to walk away from a fight once an a while," Luigi argued.

"I know, but this is the biggest fight in Mushroom Kingdom history! The War of 1821!"

"I don't think you could do it unarmed. The Koopa Army was so powerful in the 1820's that not even- Well, in present company, I don't want to say what happens," Gadd replied. "Point is, you can't. You have to come back with us."

"Not yet. Just give me more time-"

"Time! What a word." Gadd paced back and forth. "Right now, we've got a man from 1820, you, someone who got sent back to that time and screwed it up, and the three of us, who built a time machine to come back here, all with a historic war going on. And you're talking about time. Time barely makes sense anymore. By my calculations, the only thing keeping all five of us from disinigrating into just insignificant dust is that the ruler of the universe decided to grant us a few more minutes of life. We've done enough. Let's just go back to 2000 before we mess it up any more. You _can't_ stay."

Everyone was quiet.

"You should leave," Papaya suggested quietly. "We can do it. I'm sure we can."

Mario hesitated. "Okay. But just promise me you'll go back to Dark Kingdom castle in the next 5 hours."

"I will. Nice meeting you."

"You too, bye."

"Goodbye, Grandpa," Peach said in farewell.

Papaya laughed. "Bye, Peach. I'm glad I got to see you, I'd be too old to see you as a baby."

"OK, let's go!" Gadd pressed. They all got in the car, Gadd pressed a few buttons, and they were off.

Papaya was still waving after the car had exploded out of sight. "Jumping on their heads..." he muttered thoughtfully.

**That took about two days! :D Hope ya like it lots. I'd be happy if you did. I'd be even more happy if you reviewed. That'd be nice.**

**As always, AzoNintendo**


	8. Epilogue

**OK, I was thinking of writing an epilogue anyway. Enjoy, if you so please. Papaya, Annabella and all related characters are mine, plz.  
**

With his hands in his pockets, Papaya walked slowly back to the raging battle. He knew he must never, ever tell anyone of what he had just witnessed, but it would be rather hard, for he was terrible at keeping secrets.

Suddenly, he remembered the promise Boxer had made about Annabella. He forced his legs to run as fast as they would go.

Upon arriving, her head was already under the guillotine, her hand tied behind her back. He felt his heart sink into his stomach.

"This is what happens when you don't follow my orders!" Boxer was shouting. "This is what happens when you defy me! Let it be known that on this day, Mushroom Town falls to my reign!" With that, he let the blade drop.

It was very fast, not even a second, but for Papaya, it seemed like years and years. Cries of terror chorused throughout the crowd, but his scream went above all others. He sank to his knees, and he felt tears coming on.

No. Not today. Not anymore. He forced himself to stand again. Today he would fight.

It was all a quick blur. He remembered finding himself standing next to Boxer, then blood was spilled by both, then someone must have given him a knife, because next thing he knew, he was twisting it into his enemy's chest. In a few minutes, he was a mere corpse.

He breathed heavily, his hand closing tightly over the weapon covered in green blood, shaking with rage.

Slowly, someone clapped. The rest of the people followed.

* * *

Annabella's funeral was long and sad. The coffin was brought out into the graveyard, and slowly lowered into the earth. The preacher said a few words, and some of her close relatives spoke. Papaya couldn't say anything, so he just cried quietly, and joined the chorus in Amazing Grace.

* * *

After he killed Boxer, the people of the Mushroom Town- No, the Mushroom _Kingdom_, decided to make Papaya their leader. He seemed unfazed, but the truth was, he was overcome with grief at the prospect of filling Annabella's shoes.

"Congratulations, King and Queen Toadstool, it's a girl!" The doctor handed his wife, Violet, a newborn baby wrapped in a blanket. She had gained his family's sullen face and blue eyes, but her mother's brown hair and lips. No matter what, she was beautiful in their eyes.

"What should we name her?" Violet asked, staring down at her daughter.

"I'm not sure..." But in fact, we was sure, just wasn't certain his wife would take too kindly to the idea.

"I know you're sure. And it's okay."

"Thank you," he said sincerely. He turned to the little bundle. "I'm going to name you Annabella, is that alright?"

She didn't respond, just fell asleep.

* * *

"No more time traveling for a while," Gadd muttered. "Or forever."

"So what was it like there?" Luigi asked.

"Different. Very different," Mario replied.

"Did you get to meet Princess Mushkey?" Peach inquired.

"Yes, she ran me over with her carriage."

Peach laughed. "What about Papaya? What was he like?"

"Just like you, but manlier," he said back, joking slightly.

She laughed again, then suddenly bacame serious. "Thank you. I was really scared."

"Me too," Luigi agreed.

"Well, I guess we don't have to worry about time travel for a while, huh?" Mario assumed.

"Yeah, that's over," Luigi concluded.

**... :D**

**Thank you, and g'night.  
**


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